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CF Phalla Signup List

This is Critical Failures' Phalla Signup thread. It is for signups for running Phalla games, and discussion of game mechanics. Keep the thread strictly on-topic. Generally, there will be one main Phalla running (with up to two threads), as well as up to two smaller Phallas. You must sign up in this thread to run a major game. No dead threads, and the game will be run in the same threads where the signups take place. This is going to be the system until we start having problems, at which point a mod will probably fix those problems in ways that no one will like, so play nice.

The "village" consists of all players in the game. Included in the village are a small number of bad guys, commonly known as the "mafia". Normally, the mafia members all know one another at the beginning of the game, but nobody else knows anything about anyone other than themselves.

Each day (normally a 24-hour period) the village discusses and publically votes for one person to be executed that night. At the same time, the bad guys choose one person to kill each night and PM the name to the narrator. In larger games, the bad guys might get two kills per night or other abilities to use.

The good side wins if all of the bad guys die. The bad side wins if the number of good guys is less than or equal to the number of bad guys (on the assumption that at that point, they control the vote plus get their kill, so it's inevitable). Large games generally take between a week and two weeks. Small games usually last a week or less.

Usually, there will be one or more "special" roles among the good guys (and occasionally among the bad guys). Exactly who holds each role is only known to that person, and it may not even be known which or how many specials will be in any given game.

Each night, the narrator gives the details of who died, and normally whether they were a bad guy. Some games also include clues or outright statements if someone who died was a good special.

Living players may not communicate regarding the game with dead players and vice versa, unless there is some specific mechanic in place to do so. In that case, communication normally goes through the narrator. If you are dead and the moderator allows a "goodbye" post, make sure it includes absolutely no information about the game, even if you think the information is obvious. If you receive a PM or see a post breaking this rule, notify the person running the game immediately.

You may not use any anonymous method of communication to discuss the game. Forum-based PMs, external IMs, e-mails and other message boards (like proboards) are allowed as long as the person you are talking to knows who you are. You may not use screencaps to "prove" anything to anyone. Do not speak in code.

Along similar lines, don't use the "Add to conversation" feature. Phalla requires a certain amount of uncertainty, and since adding a person to a conversation allows them to see the entire thread, it can serve as a form of verification along the same lines of screen captures. If you wish to communicate something from a PM/conversation to a new player, then start up a new conversation with that individual.

Play nice. It's okay to argue, but don't get too hostile. If it's getting to the point where you're asking other people to quit the game, you're going too far. We're all here to have fun, so take it easy and keep as level a head as possible. Respect others and they'll respect you.

Common Variations

Many larger games contain multiple groups of bad guys working at cross-purposes (a Mafia vs. Werewolves game). Other games may put all players into different factions with each faction’s goal of eliminating a certain subset of the other factions - there may or may not be a common Mafia-style faction that all groups will need to eliminate to achieve victory.

Additional voting or other mechanics can also be used. At least one game has included a council or single person elected every other night who is able to use a power publically. For example, one game had an elected council able to shift the execution vote to the second person. Another had an elected emperor able to choose a person to kill.

In a small game, the typical size for a group of bad guys is 15-20%; the player population, although an individual game may lean toward the high end, particularly if there is only one group of bad guys in a larger game.

Often, everyone gets a "flavor" role in the game. Bad guys and good specials usually get a normal "villager" role in addition to their special role. This keeps people from using their initial PM to verify someone else's role. The two most common ways to do this are to (a) use the exact same message to everyone, or (b) give everyone a unique villager role.

Special Roles

Roles will have different names depending on the theme of the game. Listed below are the usual "generic" terms for each role. Normally, specials exercise their power by communicating with the narrator via PM. The core roles present in some form in most games are:

Seer - once per night can "investigate" a particular person and find out from the narrator if they are a bad guy. Variations of seers may be able to determine a good special as well, although they may be unable to distinguish them from a bad guy.

Vigilante - once per night can kill a person of their choosing.

Guardian - once per night can protect someone from any death other than execution by the village. Whether they can protect against multiple attacks on one person in the same night is up to the narrator.

Masons - a group of two or three good guys who start the game knowing each other and knowing that they are all good.

There are many, many other roles that can be present. The following is a list of some of them:

Miller - a villager who appears to be evil when seered. A Death Miller appears to be evil when seered or upon death.

Thrall - an evil person who appears to be good when seered. Sometimes revealed to be evil upon death.

Bus Driver - once per night chooses two targets. Any powers targeting one instead targets the other, and vice versa.

Role Blocker - once per night chooses a target. The powers of that person do not work for the night.

Tracker - once per night may "investigate" someone. Unlike the seer, only finds out if their target used a power that night. Some variations finds out if their target was targeted by someone else, or who their target targeted.

Spy - in a game with multiple groups, is a member of two groups. Usually he is really only aligned with one of the groups.

Messenger - allowed to send messages to the narrator, which will then be relayed to a single person or during the narration.

Jester (Village Idiot)- wins if he is voted out, but loses if he dies for any other reason or if he survives to the end. Rarely used.

Survivor - wins if he survives until the end. Usually paired with some other power to make survival easier. Roles which require the player to survive until the end are usually called "neutral."

Serial Killer - basically an evil group with one person in it. The SK has a nightly kill and has to kill every single other person, or every other person but one. Often has other powers to make survival easier.

Conditional Invincibility (Athan) - a (usually evil) person who is invincible until something happens. The role Athan from the Phalliad is the best known example.

Vote Manipulator - a person whose vote counts more than once, less than once, or who affects the vote in some way.

Reverse Seer (Befriender, Child) - chooses a target once per night. The person chosen discovers which side the reverse seer is on.

Paranoid, Naive, or Insane Seer - a paranoid seer always seers targets as being on the other side. A naive seer always seers targets as being on their side. An insane seer always seers good targets as bad and bad targets as good.

Use it to sign up to run a full game of Phalla (aka Mafia). Miniphallas are different, see the section below.

A place to find people to help you run your game, or to discuss mechanics, strategies, and ideas.

"Mechanics talk is fine. General chatting is not." People have gotten infractions for chatting. Don't do it.

This thread is for CF. If you're trying to host in D&D, use Richy's thread. For SE++ games, talk to Bogey.

Sign-up Rules

Sign up to run a Phalla game in this thread by noting your intent in bold lime text. PM the GM account Bandwagon if you want to make sure you are counted. You will be added to the bottom of the ‘non-ready’ list.

This list is hardly binding; you can change your theme or size at any time without letting anybody know.

When you are ready to run your game, send a PM to Bandwagon noting your readiness. You will be moved to the top of the list with other ‘ready’ games, with a general listing of when the game will be run.

When the current game is close to ending, the host at the top of the list will be contacted to run the next game.

You can delay your turn if you aren't ready when the time comes, so other hosts know to get ready. If you cannot run your game for a while, you can signal this to other hosts by sending a PM to Bandwagon to have your name moved to the bottom of the list. This will help scheduling for future games.

If necessary, you may also drop your game from the list completely - again, send a PM to Bandwagon indicating your intent.

Moderator-approved rule: No practical joke games. If the game is unexpectedly unbalanced, that's one thing, but don't waste our time on purpose.

"You cannot run a Phalla if you're jailed. Mini or regular."

Each game should be one thread. Signups should be in the same thread. (Exception being a major game which requires two threads. One of those two threads should be used as the signup thread.)

Hosts are recommended to design games to take 7-10 days and be prepared for game sizes ranging from 40-60 players. It is not unheard of, however, for games to have open signups with more than 60 players or of lengths slightly longer than 10 days.

If your game involves more than one thread or an alternate account, PM Echo to let him know.

Minis

Minis are smaller Phalla games limited to a size of 30 players or less. Hosts are recommended to design them to take 5-7 days, with game sizes of 20-25 players.

There is no list to host a "Mini" Phalla. You must PM the person hosting the current major game to ask his/her permission. (See this thread to find out why.) If there is no major game running, then Mini Phalla organization should go through Bandwagon.

Some feel it is courteous to let others know they are going to host a mini, but it's not necessary.

There can be at most two minis running at any one time.

Please send a PM to Bandwagon when a Mini is set up, to ensure a proper history of games is recorded.

A chatlog between me and Tarranon, prior to the creation of the first phalla game in D&D. There's some stuff there unrelated to the game, but I'm too lazy to edit them out.

...
...Tarranon: Anyway yeah, I'm making a forum game. I'm just waiting for one more mod to get back to me. The game works thusly;
A group of villagers, group of vampires, one seer. Villagers vote to stake everyone every night. Vampires eat someone every night. Seer dreams about someone every night to see

if they're a vampire or not. Game ends when the number of villagers and vampires are equal, or when all the vamps are taken out.

Wanna play?Elki: who's the seer?Tarranon: Everything is decidedly with a random number generator.
*decidedElki: fuck the mods, i'm ok with it
let's do this!Tarranon: cheers. We'll beging tonightElki: what? not now? boooo!Tarranon: You can't just play with one personElki: fuck you!Tarranon: THAT IS INSOLENCE! YOU ARE SPEAKING INSOLENCE TO ME
...
...Tarranon: So, what's a nice name for the town in which this will all take place?Elki: i tried thinking of one, but i'm blank
just remember to put my name on top of the players' list
top!Tarranon: I thought about being random and just calling it the village of france.Elki: Wangville
?Tarranon: too easyElki: like your momTarranon: BAMTarranon: homoeroticism is probably a given, but we need someway to make it grandiloquent.Tarranon: How about the village of Phalla.Elki: i like it

Many years have passed since the small village of Phalla was in the grip of vampire-inspired terror and paranoia. Time has been good to Phalla: the village is growing in size and importance, a new generation of citizens for whom the vampire nightmare is but an old folks’ tale have moved in, and the new courthouse is almost complete.

Already, villagers can hear the ding-a-ling of the clock tower every day at 10:04 sharp.

Yes, Phalla has forgotten about vampires. But vampires have not forgotten about Phalla. The vampires of the neighbouring village of Gherkyn have sworn to avenge their fallen brothers, and with the Phalla population now very mixed and complaisant, the time is right for their return. Meanwhile, a clan of werewolves that lurks in the dense black woods that surround Phalla has tired of feeding on twigs and berries. They decided to infiltrate Phalla, no doubt drawn by its seemingly endless supply of homosexual innuendo.

The first and last warning the villagers ever got was when Peter found the body of Thanatos, the only survivor of the last vampire craze, in town square. And in the general area around town square. The neck, once found in a back alley a few feet from the head but several meters from the torso (Phalla has gone partially metric), showed three distinct vampire bite marks. But the body was torn apart, and Doctor Johnson found three different werewolf jaw marks on it. There’s no doubt about it, six different undead of two different groups have infiltrated Phalla. The police forensic expert, Captain Woods, later confirmed that the vampires and werewolves were working individually, and just by coincidence attacked the same person at the same time.

And to make matters worse, contact with the outside world has been completely cut off! Or so people assume. No one really bothered to check. I’d do it, but you know… I’m busy. Maybe later.

And so, as the sun rises on what will no doubt be the first of many interesting days in Phalla, the villagers sharpen their wooden stakes and polish their silver bullets, while the undead sharpen their teeth and adjust their disguises. The hunt is on!

For all those who are veterans to Phalla, and have signed up to run a main game, please pay attention to the new system in post 4 for running your game. Make sure you let me know when you are ready, or to delay your game when you are not, so that games can run in succession without delay. Thank you.

The link to the previous CF Phalla thread seems fubared (some stuff between http and forums)

Also, think I said this before, but our (Spork and my) theme is Fate / Stay Night | Nasuverse. Exactly what depends on how many roles we can get out of F/SN and how much interest we expect. (If we have to branch into Tsukihime to make some sort of hilarious hybrid bastard game we can. If we even have to go into KnK, all right. If we had to go so far as Canaan, something went wrong. =X)

Spec: if you go straight to Canaan/KnK without passing by Fate/Zero I will hurt you and not call you a friend anymore, my friend

You see, the problem is that by the time frame of F/SN

pretty much all of the interesting characters from F/Z ARE DEAD.

Seriously, who's left?

Tohsaka's mom is catatonic and confined to an institute. I already threw in a Waver cameo, I guess he could theoretically be there. Kotomine's obviously back. Is there seriously anyone else who even vaguely matters?

I mean, as awesome as it would be, having F/Z's Rider running around while F/SN is taking place WOULD NOT MAKE SENSE.

Even thinking about interacting triggers and events between Tsukihime and F/SN is making me cry. Adding LOLTIMEPARADOX on top of that is not in any way, shape, or form desirable.

Spec: if you go straight to Canaan/KnK without passing by Fate/Zero I will hurt you and not call you a friend anymore, my friend

You see, the problem is that by the time frame of F/SN

pretty much all of the interesting characters from F/Z ARE DEAD.

Seriously, who's left?

Tohsaka's mom is catatonic and confined to an institute. I already threw in a Waver cameo, I guess he could theoretically be there. Kotomine's obviously back. Is there seriously anyone else who even vaguely matters?

I mean, as awesome as it would be, having F/Z's Rider running around while F/SN is taking place WOULD NOT MAKE SENSE.

Even thinking about interacting triggers and events between Tsukihime and F/SN is making me cry. Adding LOLTIMEPARADOX on top of that is not in any way, shape, or form desirable.

Just say a wizard/Zelretch did it, create your own crazy continuity and leave it at that.

And come on, did you seriously think I didn't know everyone from F/Z died? Come on Spec, I know it just as much, if not more than you do! My point is you seem to be avoiding dealing with that part of the universe like the plague in nearly anything you do and that's something that kind of bugs me, and not just because it's better than F/SN in any way, shape or form.

By chronological order, are we using order that the people have indicated readiness in or their original signup order for priority?

For example, someone at 60 readies. Before he is contacted to run, someone at 17 readies. Is the 17 ahead of or behind the 60?

Yes. Order in the 'ready' and 'on hold' lists are based on original chronological order of signup. So if you set your game to 'ready' status, but someone else does so afterwards, but orignally signed up to run their game earlier, then they would get priority to run their game next. Would it help if I put indices next to each game to indicate priority, or would that become too complicated?

I am under the assumption that your "readied" game gets moved to the "top" of the list with your current number (or some other equivalent), and if someone that signed up ahead of you readies their game (with reasonable time beforehand), they still get to go ahead.

It's pretty much like the "old" system, only instead of asking who's ready next after each game, we have people constantly waiting in the wings to jump in and run when there isn't someone ahead of them already.

By chronological order, are we using order that the people have indicated readiness in or their original signup order for priority?

For example, someone at 60 readies. Before he is contacted to run, someone at 17 readies. Is the 17 ahead of or behind the 60?

Yes. Order in the 'ready' and 'on hold' lists are based on original chronological order of signup. So if you set your game to 'ready' status, but someone else does so afterwards, but orignally signed up to run their game earlier, then they would get priority to run their game next. Would it help if I put indices next to each game to indicate priority, or would that become too complicated?

I'd actually recommend keeping the original signup number beside the name. So in a simple example where:

1. Spectrum
2. Toxic Toys
3. El Skid
4. Squashua
5. B:L

have signed up for games, if TT and B:L are ready, it'd look like:

2. Toxic Toys
5. B:L
1. Spectrum
3. El Skid
4. Squashua

This would also save you from constantly having to renumber after every game was run, though you could still do it if you were feeling anal.. And everyone who isn't ready would see what position they jump to if they indicate readiness.

I said if he could get it started tomorrow, he can run it. If not he'll have to wait till next week. My day one will start Weds or Thurs depending how fast it fills up. I'll start sign ups on Tues because it works out better for me.